As part of the celebration of B.B. King's 80th birthday Virgin released the double-disc set Original Greatest Hits in September of 2005 the week B.B. turned 80. Since there have been so many comps of King's long career, all bearing titles similar to Original Greatest Hits, it's easy to assume that this collection is yet another recycling of the familiar B.B. standards from the late '60s and '70s, but that's not the case at all. Instead, this 40-track collection is one of the first American reissues to offer a comprehensive survey of his recordings for RPM and Kent in the '50s and early '60s (both sides of his debut 45 for Bullet, "Miss Martha King"/"When Your Baby Packs Up and Goes," are added to the end of the collection for good measure). While the material has been reissued extensively overseas, most notably on the U.K. label Ace, which has offered an exhaustive overview of the majority of his RPM and Kent sides, there has never been a good U.S. comp of this material until this deceptively plain-titled Original Greatest Hits.

Billy Joe "B.J." Thomas is an American popular singer. He is particularly known for his hit songs of the 1960s and 1970s, which appeared on the pop, country, and Christian music charts. His best-known recording is the Burt Bacharach/Hal David song "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head"…

B.J. Thomas (born Billy Joe Thomas) straddled the line between pop/rock and country, achieving success in both genres in the late '60s and '70s. At the beginning of his career, he leaned more heavily on rock & roll, but by the mid-'70s, he had turned to country music, becoming one of the most successful country-pop stars of the decade.

The Zombies are a British pop group, first active in the 1960s. Following The Beatles in 1964 as part of "The British Invasion" of the USA, they were the second UK group to score an American #1 hit. The Zombies were uniquely different, with a subtler style, often jazzier and more inventive chord structures, the prominent keyboards of Rod Argent, and the distinctive voice of Colin Blunstone. She's Not There and Tell Her No were quick hits, but despite continually stunning musical output that has influenced other artists ever since, another hit record was more than four years away, after they'd broken up! This collection, remastered for SACD, covers the Zombies' short and tasteful career, spanning their 1964-1967 years for Decca Records, and their single album, the classic Odessey & Oracle, for Epic Records in 1968…

Silent Circle is a German Eurodisco band that was formed in 1985. It has three members, vocalist Martin Tychsen (Jo Jo Tyson), keyboardist & composer Axel Breitung, and drummer Jürgen Behrens (CC Behrens). Silent Circle first performed in 1979, but soon parted ways. In the early '80s, the trio reformed and decided to form a more solid group. Hence, that marked the beginning of Silent Circle…

Golden Earring is a Dutch rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as the Golden Earrings. They achieved worldwide fame with their international hit songs "Radar Love" in 1973, which went to number one on the Dutch charts, reached the top ten in the UK and went to number thirteen on the US charts, "Twilight Zone" in 1982, and "When the Lady Smiles" in 1984. During their career they had nearly 30 top-ten singles on the Dutch charts; over the years they produced 25 studio albums.

James Taylor had scored eight Top 40 hits by the fall of 1976 when Warner Brothers marked the end of his contract with this compilation. One of those hits, the Top Ten gold single “Mockingbird,” a duet with his wife Carly Simon, was on Elektra Records, part of the Warner family of labels and presumably available, but it was left off.

Until Arista released The Definitive Collection in August 1999, 1988's Greatest Hits stood as the ultimate Air Supply compilation. It's easy to see why. Eleven of the group's big hits are here: "Lost in Love", "All Out of Love", "Every Woman in the World", "The One That You Love", "Here I Am", "Sweet Dreams", "Even the Nights Are Better", and "Making Love Out of Nothing at All". That's all that most Air Supply fans need, at least casual fans, but even the hardcore followers are sure to like having such a concentrated dose of hits in one package. Yes, The Definitive Collection remains more comprehensive, but for anyone who just wants the hits, with no excess fat, Greatest Hits is the right choice.

Diana Ross' glossy 1981-1987 tenure on RCA is the subject of this 18-track collection, which includes her hit tribute to the late Marvin Gaye, "Missing You." Other highlights include her cover of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers' "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," "Mirror, Mirror," "Swept Away" and a solo version of the chart-topping "Endless Love".